


The Archives of the Office Boy Lagaffe

by Lieju



Category: Gaston (Bande Dessinée)
Genre: Gen, Transformation, halloween fic, moreauish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 14:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8405668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lieju/pseuds/Lieju
Summary: Prunelle returns to the office after a short holiday and things are very wrong…





	

Prunelle opened the door to the editorial offices, carefully. He wasn't sure what, but _something_ would definitely go wrong. His holiday might have been only two days, but who knew what Lagaffe had gotten into while he was away?

 

_When the cat's away and so on..._

 

But nothing. He was expecting a giant cactus or a chemical fire, so it wasn't until he was in the second floor that the realization that it was too quiet hit him. And there was an odd smell around the place...

 

Finally he spotted someone.

 

"Aimee?"

 

The girl looked at Prunelle. "Mister Prunelle! Where is everyone? I mean, it's like people have been going missing..."

 

"Missing?" He had known it! But that at least gave Prunelle the excuse to find Lagaffe and demand answers.

 

"GASTON!?"

 

Prunelle stormed to the mail room, noticing piles of clothes and dirt all around the place. The weird smell was even stronger... It reminded Prunelle of a zoo.

 

"What animals has he brought in _now_?" Prunelle muttered under his breath.

 

Suddenly there was a scream.

 

"Aimee?"

Prunelle turned around, and dashed to the hallway, trying to locate the girl. He had thought she had been following him.

 

The editor stopped, staring in horror at the hairy creature dragging Aimee away.

It got away from sight before Prunelle could react.

 

He sneaked after it, carefully. What was it? It had seemed like a large monkey, wearing clothes, or at least a sweater. What had Lagaffe brought to the office now?

 

Prunelle stopped. Maybe he should call for help? What could he do, exactly? Yes, it was best to get the police.

 

Prunelle turned around, and almost collided with the figure that had sneaked up to him.

 

"Lagaffe?" Part of Prunelle was relieved. "What-"

 

But before he could start yelling at Gaston the office boy interrupted him. "Oh, hi. You came back before I was done. I wanted to show you when it was all done... Oh well."

 

"Rogntudjuu, Lagaffe! What is going on?"

 

Gaston's smile widened. "Ooh, wanna see it?"

 

Prunelle shook his head. "Aimee! She was dragged off, we need to do something, I-"

 

"Mmhuh?" Gaston waved his hand dismissively. "She's fine."

 

"What was that thing, Gaston? Where is everyone?"

 

"She's fine," Gaston assured him. "Most people are in the archives, follow me."

 

He turned around, and Prunelle followed, feeling more and more uneasy by the minute. He had known something was wrong, and the fact he wasn't entirely certain _what_ exactly was making him nervous.

 

He had just stepped after Gaston when he was grabbed from behind and pushed to the floor.

 

"Stay," Gaston told whatever it was that was holding the editor down, and it barked.

 

"Rogntudjuu, Lagaffe!"

 

Prunelle managed to lift his head to see the darkened room. The archives was a mess as usual but there were odd figures moving in the shadows. And middle of the room was an operating table...

 

Gaston waved his hand and the monkey creature Prunelle had seen before jumped from the darkness and pulled Prunelle up.

 

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

 

Prunelle's struggles were in vain and he was pushed onto the table and held down as Gaston fastened the restraints around his arms and legs.

 

"I'm gonna. Eventually," Gaston told him conversationally. He walked to a filing cabinet and pulled out a vial and a needle. "So, what animal would you wanna be?"

 

"What?"

 

Prunelle's eyes widened. Could it be that those odd creatures were really?

He craned his neck, trying to see the monkey. Now that he paid attention, the sweater it was wearing looked familiar...

 

" _Lebrac?_ "

 

"Hm, he was one of the first," Gaston explained. "I thought a monkey would be nice, since now he can paint with his feet as well. Cool, huh?"

 

Lebrac turned to nod at the editor.

 

"Lebrac? Oh my God, it's really you?" Prunelle stared in his eyes, desperately trying to see any spark of humanity. "Let me go."

 

"You're over-reacting," Gaston told him. "I'll let you go once I'm done. Then it's just Aimee, and some of the guys in the fourth floor, maybe Fantasio... It will be _fine_ , Prunelle, you should try relaxing once in a while." Gaston looked thoughtful. "Hm, what animal would be good for that? I was thinking you'd be nice as a little doggy, but I get the feeling you'd just bark at me..."

 

"Mister Gaston!"

 

Gaston turned to scratch the redheaded Pomeranian from behind the ears. "Oh, and we already have a doggy."

 

His face lit up. "Oh, I have just the perfect one for you."

 

"Lagaffe, you're-"

 

In horror, Prunelle watched the needle coming closer.

 

"You'll like this, I promise."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Prunelle curled up on the bed, slowly becoming aware of the surrounding world. However, he was oddly sore all over and sleep felt like a good idea.

 

But more and more, the feeling that something was wrong was pushing to the forefront of his sleepy mind. Why exactly was he sleeping on the floor, fully clothed? And why did everything smell so...

 

He mumbled, opening his eyes, and realized he was in the darkened mail room, laying on a makeshift bed, and he wasn't alone. Gaston?

 

Prunelle felt like he should have been angry with the office boy, but there was something clouding his mind, and he blinked again, trying to focus and remember where he had left his glasses.

 

"Prunelle?" The tone of Gaston's voice was certainly unusual. Definitely towards the editor. Not that he disliked it.

 

Prunelle struggled to a sitting position, and a hand was laid on his shoulder.

 

"How are you feeling?"

 

Prunelle opened his mouth. And meowed.

 

He clamped his hand over his mouth, suddenly aware of how there was something wrong with his teeth. As well as his hand...

 

He stared at the arm covered in black fur.

 

It hadn't been a dream.

 

He stared at Gaston, afraid to pay attention to his body, afraid to find out how it had changed, but he had to do it.

 

"My trousers..." he articulated slowly, deciding to focus on the state of his clothing first. And it was good to find out he could still talk, even if he felt like there was something odd about his voice.

 

"Oh, sorry, I had to pull your trousers down a bit, to let your tail out-"

 

"TAIL!?"

 

Prunelle scrambled up, and almost fell down, partly because of said trousers that had been pulled slightly down, and partly because he was feeling oddly wobbly.

 

Gaston caught him. "Are you okay?"

 

Prunelle stared at him,shocked at the actual worry he could hear in his voice.

 

"I have a _tail._ "

 

Tail which he could feel moving behind him.

 

He pushed Gaston away. "Where are my glasses?"

 

"I got them somewhere... I didn't really think of it, but you'll need new ones now, because of your ears..."

 

Prunelle leaned on the table, realizing how his ears were moving as well.

He let out strangled sound before catching himself.

 

"What did you do to me?" He glanced around the darkened mail room. He hadn't been the only one who had been affected, he couldn't see any of the others...

But he was fairly sure he could _smell_ them.

 

Gaston took a step towards him, and the editor hissed, suddenly afraid.

And the fact he could feel something moving under his clothes only made him panic more.

 

"It's fine."

 

It really wasn't. But trying to articulate it felt like too much effort and Prunelle hissed again, dropping on all fours.

 

Gaston backed down. "It's okay. Call me if you need anything."

 

Slowly, Prunelle reached for his backside. And sure enough, there was the tail... A quick look showed most of his body was covered in black fur, and that had been the thing that had puffed out a while ago under his clothes.

And his ears...

He stood up, shakily against the table. After a moment he kicked his shoes off, revealing his feet that were more like paws now. At least his hands were still normal, in shape at least.

 

"Turn me back!"

 

The office boy smiled. "You just need to get used to it. You'll love being a kitty, you'll see. And you can still keep doing what you do, um writing on typewriter and stuff."

 

He gave Prunelle a sunny smile before stepping out of the room. "I let you keep your hands."

 


End file.
